From the Principal
We are so EXCITED!!!
This week our Year 3 students were so excited to receive their very own personal device as part of our 1:1 device trial in 2021!! Each child with their parents signed an agreement to take care of their device as part of this trial. They were so excited to receive their brand new Chromebook and case and were very proud walking back to their learning space with their very own device. No more sharing, no more waiting for a laptop to use for our Year 3 students! For the first time at SFS our students will be taking their device home and will be able to continue their learning and show their parents what they are working on. They will bring their Chromebook fully charged ready for the school day.
The device is a tool and we certainly will not be using them all the time. However when they are needed they are ready and easily accessed. There will be so many more opportunities that will occur by having their own personal device.
During the year we will reflect and evaluate the program and make decisions regarding the roll out of the program beyond 2021. While 2021 provides free access for the trial, if a roll out is phased in there will be an additional levy for the leasing of the devices.
Each device has been programmed just for the use of a specific child. GoGuardian has been installed in these Chromebooks and also on the use of school technology. It will be in full operation soon. GoGuardian is a monitoring software. It provides an additional way to monitor student activity. GoGuardian is able to detect inappropriate activity and children off task. We are excited by this additional level of security at SFS. However nothing beats proactive intervention and human eyes. We encourage all parents to ensure students working at home have their device where it is visible, like in the family room.
We are very excited to launch a 1:1 device program at SFS!!
Get a FEE DISCOUNT!!
Do you have one of these card??
If you do let us know!!
You may be eligible for $125 for each of your children from the government to go towards your camp fees, swimming fees or excursion fees.
It’s easy—just fill out the CSEF form available from the school office and present your current Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card and we will do the rest for you.
Applications should be completed and lodged with us as soon as possible in term 1.
This allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
A successful application equals a fee reduction.
Re-Zoning proposal for Melbourne Archdioceses Land.
It has come to my attention that there is a proposal for the land adjoining our school to be re-zoned for residential blocks. This strip of land behind the basketball courts, never belonged to St Francis de Sales Primary School. The land was purchased by the Melbourne Archdiocese to build a church. The school over the past ten years has maintained the land with parents mowing it. We have made use of the land and will keep doing this while it is vacant and available. However we always knew that one day the owners of the land will want it back. The Melbourne Archdiocese did give the school and our St Kevin's Parish, Hampton Park the opportunity to buy this land a couple of years ago. However with a price tag of over $ 5 million the school and parish were not in a financial position to enter into this agreement.
The parish of St Kevin's Hampton Park did purchase sufficient land to build our school and to cater for the playground space required for our children now and into the future. We have a master plan for the continued development of our land and will soon see a new $4 million construction of a school hall. There are many available and under utilized spaces in our current play areas that can and will be developed. The land at the back of the school is where we placed the soccer goals. These goals can easily be relocated to new areas. We know our children love to play soccer and we will ensure we create new spaces within our school for this to flourish in the years ahead.
I thank parents who have written to the council. It will be great if the council considers the concerns raised so that the community benefits are maximised by this parcel of land.
This is an original Master Plan of the school. A you can see there was land set aside for an early learning centre. However there is no current plan for this to be constructed. The land beside Paterson Road will be ideal for a new soccer ground.
SWIM Stars!!
Congratulations to Maia and Chloe for their great swim at the Casey South District swimming Competition this week, Both girls represented St Francis de Sales and have both qualified for Regionals to be held on the 29 March at MSAC!! Maia came 1st in backstroke and 2nd in Freestyle. Chloe was 1st in breaststroke and 2nd in Backstroke. We are very proud of their efforts and wish them the very BEST at Regionals.
Sibling Enrolments For 2022 are DUE NOW.
Applications for 2022 can be obtained from
- the school office or
- can be downloaded from our website.
Applications are due by the end of this term.
Interviews for siblings commencing in 2022 will commence in May, at the start of Term 3 .
Wear a Touch of GREEN!
Wednesday 17 March is St Patrick's Day!
Children can wear a touch of GREEN as we celebrate St Patrick's Day
and 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia.
The wearing of the GREEN on St Patrick's Day.
The wearing of the WHITE shirt Junior BOYS on
School Days!!
The Resilience Project Zoom Parent Webinar
Save the DATE and Take the TIME
with Hugh van Cuylenburg
on Tuesday 23rd March, 6:30pm-7:30pm
During this presentation, Hugh will share his experiences and combine them with practical strategies that can be implemented everyday to improve our overall wellbeing.